CIA Tidbits
SHARING STRATEGIES, HELPFUL TIPS, AND MUCH MORE!
November 2019
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We are thankful for our Reading Foundations Teachers!
Long before our students read to learn they must learn to read!
We asked our resident Reading Foundations expert, Amy Jensen, for some insight and tips about teaching students to read. Here's what she had to share:
The introduction to the Reading Foundational Skills standards says: "These standards are directed toward fostering students' understanding and working knowledge of concepts of print, the alphabetic principle, and other basic convention of the English writing system. They are not an end in and of themselves; rather, they are necessary and important components of an effective, comprehensive reading program."
Later it reads: "Instruction should be differentiated: good readers will need much less practice with these concepts than struggling readers will. The point is to teach students what they need to learn and not what they already know- to discern when particular children or activities warrant more or less attention."
Because of this, precise assessment is necessary so we don't waste precious instructional minutes teaching children what they already know, and so that we can hone in on exactly where they might be struggling. There are various assessments that can give us good diagnostic information. These include:
- the Kinder Foundational Reading Skills Assessment (in Illuminate)
- the Basic Phonics Skills Test (BPST)
- fluency assessments
- assessments from our McGraw Hill Wonders Placement and Diagnostic Assessment book
- i-Ready ELA diagnostics
The information from these assessments can be used to create small groups to target specific skills and provide practice on the skills students need to learn.
Concepts of Print help students in grades K and 1 learn how written language works. Many young students of poverty don't have print materials around their homes, and therefore it is very important that we explicitly teach how print materials are read.
Phonemic Awareness or Phonological Awareness is made up of 9 separate oral language skills, the most important of which are blending, segmenting, and rhyming. Students who can blend sounds orally will learn to read faster, and those who can segment will become better spellers. Rhyming helps with discovering patterns in word families and also helps build reading skills. The use of a puppet who "talks funny" and speaks in segments, is a great way to ask students to blend as they interpret what the puppet is saying.
Phonics is taught beginning with letters and sounds in kindergarten and progressing to using prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, and word analysis skills in grades 3, 4 and 5. Students learn to use syllabication patterns and morphology (roots and affixes) to read multi-syllabic words in and out of context. Check out the website themeasuredmom.com for some great free downloadable phonics games!
And finally, fluency is the ability to read grade level text with sufficient accuracy, pacing and expression to support comprehension. A good way to build fluency is have students read unfamiliar texts four times. The first time use the Cloze method where the teacher reads the text leaving out words that the students fill in. The second time read the text chorally, taking out the teacher voice when possible. The third read is done in partners and the fourth time ask students to read sections one at a time, in a random order at your table group.
All of these foundational skills need to be strongly in place before students have enough mental resources to focus on comprehension, the true goal of reading. Just like a layered cake, with comprehension as the top layer, if many of the inside components of the cake are missing, the cake will eventually fall apart. We, as teachers, need to help our students learn and practice these skills in interesting and engaging ways.
*** Amy's next Foundational Reading Skills class will be Monday, Nov. 18, from 3:45-5:45 at Jack Northrop in room 21. Several teaching tools and methods to work on these skills in small groups will be presented. ***
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New and Rising Star Teacher Feature
Meet Kelli Crook from Linclon!
This month we would like to shine the spotlight on Lincoln Elementary and Kelli Crook, a fourth-grade teacher. Upon entering her classroom, it is obvious that deep and meaningful learning is the focus of the room every day. We are honored to have her as an employee of the Lancaster School district. Keep up the good work Kelli! In the words of Lincoln’s Instructional coach, “Kelli is absolutely amazing”.
A short interview with Kelli...
1. Why did you become a teacher?
I actually became a teacher by a fluke. My major is in recreation, tourism, and hospitality management, when I graduated, like every student fresh from college, I had no clue what I wanted to do. My mother recommended that the district she works at was in desperate need for substitutes. I decided that I would "try it out" I ended up subbing for 4 years. I fell in love with the profession and went back to school to become a teacher.
2. What's your favorite thing about becoming a teacher?
In my short time as a full-time teacher I can say that it is the hardest and easiest decision I have ever made. Hard because some days (most days) I feel like I could be doing so much more if time allowed, and easy because I get to work with amazing people such as the staff and my students. My students are wonderful and offer quite the variety of life experience to add to our classroom community. They have grown in a short amount of time and seeing their growth reminds me that this is why I chose this profession and I love every minute of it. I enjoy waking up in the morning to see what the day holds and I am very thankful to have a supportive grade level team, other staff, admin team and most importantly a mentor teacher to make any "hard" days worthwhile with a friendly "hello" or an office filled with a jar of chocolate. (Which fixes everything ) They say teaching is the hardest profession, you give up so much of yourself to help others, but I see everyday as an opportunity to learn, to become better and to grow as a person. I am thankful for the opportunity to change lives even if it is a small change like "Ms. Crook today I didn't yell out even though I wanted to all day, I waited my turn" or when a student knows they have not done the right thing and corrected it on their own. It's those little victories that we get to celebrate together, we get to celebrate the good things in life everyday and to find the good in others and ourselves is truly the most important trait. I love teaching, it is my passion and I am truly blessed to get to share my joy with others.
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ELA Anchor Standards and the Staircase of Complexity
What is an Anchor Standard?
Anchor Standard: What the student should be able to do by the time they graduate.
In ELA, anchor standards are “backwards mapped” all the way down to kindergarten. Therefore, each grade level adds a small, new layer to the skill or concept, building on the previous year, until the anchor standard is reached.
This applies to ALL ELA standards (Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, and Language).
Check out the visual below for more clarity. (click to enlarge)
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Close Reading and Text Dependent Questioning
They go together like milk & cookies!
At the end of any Close Reading lesson, students should be able to answer text-dependent questions. Connecting these TDQ's to the Reading Standards (see below) gives you the biggest bang for your buck!
Take a look at the documents below for more information.
(Click on the image to open the document)
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** SUPER USEFUL RESOURCE ALERT!!!!!!!!!!
Instructional Clarity...
These Standards Templates break down EACH STANDARD by the following:
- Grade level standard language
- Anchor standard
- Essential Skills/Concepts
- Academic Vocab
-Teaching Note/Strategies
- Question Stems (great for success criteria)
- Vertical articulation (what is taught the year before and after)
The Standards Bookmarks are a smaller, "flip" version of the templates. They are also available for MATH!
Click on the image(s) below to open the resource.
Math Standards Bookmarks
Stick them on a ring and refer to them as needed!
ELA Standards Bookmarks
**CHALLENGE**
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Need help with your digital curriculum?
* ELA- Wonders/StudySync
* Math- MyMath/CA Math
* SS- IMPACT
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Do you have a GROWTH MINDSET?
Check out the video below to learn the difference between a
growth mindset and a fixed mindset!
There are great Growth Mindset videos available for your students on ClassDojo too! Click below to visit the website:
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Coach Spotlight on Tara Goines
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Congratulations to October's gift card winners: Julie Holm (WW) & Angelina Hongkham (DV)
Complete the Google Form below to enter November's Drawing!
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Upcoming Professional Development
Dr. Douglass Math Training Schedule
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Who says you can't go back?
Past CIA Tidbits Newsletters:
We Are CIA!
Krista Thomsen ext 301 - Director Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Sarah Schneider, ext 301 - CIA Administrative Secretary II
Connie Hobson, ext 321 - Induction Administrative Secretary I
Renee Rubio, ext 322 - Induction Facilitator
Michelle Lambeth, ext 323 - Induction Facilitator
Kristi Zenno, ext 311 - District Instructional Coach (ELA, History/Social Science, Growth Mindset)
Gina Wilson, ext 312 - District Instructional Coach (Reading Intervention, Arts Integration)
Tara Goines, ext 313 - District Instructional Coach (Math, Science)
Allison Harmon, ext 314 - District Instructional Coach (MTSS and Inclusive Practices)
Janine Sciallo, ext 302 - Office Assistant
Email: CIA@lancs.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/lancsd.org/lancasterschooldistrict-cia
Location: 44327 Fig Avenue, Lancaster, CA, USA
Phone: (661) 723-0351